Leading the Way
by Corvus corone
Summary: [Gold/Silver, gameverse] Companion piece to Finding the Path. Gold's own travels and experiences, captured in six snapshots. Each is based around a member of his team. No. 5, Ninetales: The beach at Cherrygrove might be cold, wet and dark by night, but that doesn't matter. Gold is on a date, and he is sure Silver won't be able to resist his sexy awesome pick-up lines for long.
1. Feraligatr

_a/n: This is a sister piece to _Finding the Path_, and so will be a series of Gold/Silver moments centered around each Pokemon in Gold's team. I think game!Gold/Silver is Huntershipping rather than Preciousmetalshipping.  
_

___I want to write more about Gold because it's hard to flesh out a character who isn't really a character, given that he's literally, well, me. As in, me the player of SoulSilver. I don't think Gold - aka myself - takes life nearly as seriously as Silver does (who does?), so maybe these will be lighter and sillier than _Finding the Path___._  


___contains: original character Gold based on HG/SS, Gold/Silver romance - Huntershipping, some swearing._

___ooo_

**Feraligatr**

**ooo**

Gold liked battling. He hadn't been into this whole "being a trainer" thing very long, it being less than a day since he'd received his first Pokemon in his very own shiny Pokeball. But it had been pretty good so far.

It was lucky, then, that his Pokemon agreed with him, even if the little guy bit him in protest and puffed itself up in indignant anger whenever Gold said anything to him. Totodile also liked battling, even if right now the battles Totodile liked best were the battles against Gold's hands, legs and face. Gold was asking for it, Totodile reasoned. He liked calling Totodile _cute_ and _huggable_. How awful.

(Gold wasn't too worried. He'd been bitten and hit and elbowed in protest by just about everyone in New Bark Town, often twice in ten minutes on his particularly loud days.)

The rush of adrenaline, watching his partner Totodile take down another squawking Pidgey – that proud feeling of accomplishment as Totodile finally learned that water jet squirting technique after hours of encouragement and exercises – that warm fuzzy comfort of Totodile headbutting his legs in celebration after each battle… it was pretty good so far.

Even if Totodile's headbutting was often not so much fuzzy and comforting as it was painful and sandpaper-rough. Gold supposed it was the thought that counted.

(Totodile had been, of course, really aiming for the 'painful and sandpaper-rough type of headbutt to show him that I'm boss', but his efforts were sadly wasted.)

"Water gun!" shouts Gold, waving his arms. Totodile stomps the ground and spits up about a gallon of water onto the Chikorita's head.

"Chiko!" she says happily, rolling around in the spray.

"To…!?" Totodile glares at Gold. _WHY DID YOU MAKE ME DO THAT, LOOK, NOW WE'RE LOSING, MORON, _he attempts to say with his narrowed eyes_._

"Whoops," says Gold, shrugging. The other trainer snorts in disgust. "Don't worry! Go for a scratch next time she comes close!"

"Chikori kori?" asks the Chikorita as she comes in to tackle Totodile. "Kori kori?" To Totodile's angry confusion, she is beaming in a charming and not at all aggressive or threatening way.

"Toto…" grumbles Totodile. "Dile!" _I'm alright, thanks… but we're battling, idiot!_

"Ko!" says Chikorita, knocking him off the ground. (She's still beaming.)

"Hey! I think she's trying to distract you!" shouts Gold. "Er… Totodile… scratch? Oh wait, water gun? Maybe?"

"Shut the hell up and get on with the battle," snarls the other trainer.

"Are you talking to me?"

"Yes. Shut up, loser."

"Woah woah woah, I think we can agree that I am not, aha, a loser," says Gold. He poses dramatically for effect. "I'm a pretty cool guy. What's your name, anyway?"

"Watch your weak Pokemon," says the other trainer with a sneer. He pointedly does not shake Gold's outstretched hand, and even more pointedly does not go in for the friendly man hug that would have inevitably followed (because Gold likes hugs).

"Totodile isn't weak," says Gold, turning back to face the battle, "are you?" He is greeted with the sight of the bouncy Chikorita landing a leafy – and painful-looking – finishing move on the Pokemon in question.

"To… todile…"

"You and your Pokemon are both weak," mutters the other trainer. "It's a waste of time, battling you." He returns the Chikorita to a Pokeball and stands there, evidently waiting for Gold to get out of his way.

"C'mon, I just met Totodile this morning! If we trained for a couple more days, I bet we could kick your ass." His words are braver than he feels. Gold gently picks up Totodile, who squeaks and winces in pain. Now what is he meant to do, bring him to the Pokemon Centre in his arms? Or return him to a Pokeball? Should he get out a quick-heal potion? Painkillers? Did he need antiseptic? Should he call a Pokeambulance? Maybe he should call Professor Elm.

For the first time that day, Gold feels… overwhelmed. He'd been leading Totodile on for the whole morning, being the right kind of encouraging and inspiring that had persuaded the whole village of New Bark to put their hopes in him as a fledgling trainer, and now… what? Where did he take it from here?

"Can you help?" he says to the other trainer. "I don't know what to do."

The other trainer scowls, judging him through angry eyes. "… just put him in a Pokeball and get to a centre when you can," he mutters. "It's not my fault you can't even take care of a baby like him."

Gold fumbles for a Pokeball and returns the injured Totodile. "Cool, thanks."

"What a waste of time," grumbles the other trainer. Gold didn't have time to react before he is shoved aside and flung into a bush, Totodile's Pokeball flying out of his hand.

"Ow," he says to no-one in particular, since the Chikorita-trainer obviously isn't in any mood to listen. Gold flails a little, disentangling himself from the bush. Then he picks up Totodile's Pokeball.

There is something shiny next to it – a card, probably a driving license or trainer ID. _Name: Silva-_

"Give that back!" snarls a voice surprisingly close to Gold's right ear.

"Jesus!" yelps Gold. "You scared me. Here you go, alright? Just leave me alone!"

The trainer glares.

"Please don't hit me," Gold adds.

He sits up and watches the Chikorita-trainer flounce off in an angry red-haired huff. It's exactly the kind of flounce that would have suited a hormonal catwalk model who secretly dreamt of being a fat Italian bouncer at a mafia-run strip club.

"I'd pay to see that on a catwalk," he says aloud to Totodile's ball.

Totodile - understandably - doesn't reply.

Oh well. This is really no time for speculation. He needs to get Totodile to the Pokecentre.

Time to take the first steps.

**ooo**

_M__y Feraligatr is called Diluvan. __I normally call my Pokemon things like Hooker or Slutface, so I AM SO MATURE._


	2. Togekiss

**Togekiss**

**ooo**

"Oh my god," said Gold, holding the quivering egg at arms' length. "Oh my god."

"Naw…" says Croconaw. He stares at the egg, evidently fascinated.

"Oh my god! Croconaw, help me! What do I do?"

"Croco!" He points at the nearby Pokemon centre – in fact, they're standing right outside it. "Croc!"

"Good idea!"

Croconaw hops off. Then he stops, realising that his trainer is not actually following him. Gold, apparently, is paralysed with fear. "Croco croc!" he growls angrily.

"I'm paralysed with fear!" says Gold, rather helpfully. "Oh my god, what if I drop it? It's hatching _all over me_ and I'm gonna drop it and I'm not ready to be a daddy _oh my god._"

Croconaw bites him.

"Oh fucking ow," says Gold, but he starts walking. A piece of eggshell flies off and lands on Croconaw's head. Croconaw wonders if he should get Gloom out, because they really do need a calming presence here, but he decides that he really can't be bothered with that and besides, Gold is in no state to listen to anything that's not a step by step guide on how to walk an egg to a hospital.

ooo

An hour later, Gold is still somewhat paralysed with fear.

"Piii!" chirps the baby. It waves around stubby little arms. Gloom nudges it closer to Gold.

"What am I going to do with you?" asks Gold. Togepi chirps into his face and puts on its cutest expression.

"Glooom…" _Please calm down…_

Gold gently picks up the baby. "I don't know anything about raising kids! I don't even know what kind of Pokemon this is! Is it even meant to still have shell on? What the hell do I do now?"

"Gloooooom…"

"What do I feed it? _Where are its parents?!_"

"Gepiiii!" The Togepi is struggling to free itself. Gold puts it back down on the pile of warm towels.

"I am so not ready for this," he says. "What the hell was Elm thinking, anyway? I'm gonna call Lyra. Gloom, take care of the baby."

ooo

"Look, you'll be fine. Professor Elm obviously thinks so, and you've managed to raise Totodile so well," says Lyra, making calming gestures over the Pokegear.

"Nooo," Gold says. "It's not the saaame. Toto- I mean, Croconaw – he's not a kid! All I do is make sure he doesn't get lost in town and sometimes take him to Pokecentres when he gets tired! I'm not, like, y'know… Togepi's a baby! Literally! A. Baby. I'm not a babysitter, I'm a fucking battle coach!"

Lyra frowns. "Okay, look. I'll email you some books about raising baby Pokemon this evening, and you can interrogate me about Marrill is you want, but I really don't think you should be worrying so hard. Besides, Gloom and, um, Croconaw can help you out with everything too, and you can call me for emergencies and stuff. But I really have to go now, sorry…"

"Can't I just leave Togepi with your grandparents?! Or you?"

"Um, yeah, but that's… kind of not the point of Professor Elm giving you the egg to begin with?"

"But they're trained Pokemon raisers! I'm not!"

"Look, call me back this evening, okay? I have to go! I really need to pee! And stop panicking!"

"I'm not panicking, I'm just… evaluating the circumstances!"

"What? You've never been this jumpy before, you always seemed so, like, confident about everything. And you know you're really good with Pokemon! So what's different about this? How can you be okay with leaving home on your own to go to – hey, where are you now anyway? – I mean, I didn't even think you _knew_ how to panic…"

"Uh..." There's everything different about this but Gold can't put it into words – it's the difference between blindly running into battles and gym challenges with Croconaw, his partner, at his side, and blindly running into dangerous battles and tough gym challenges with a newborn Togepi whose only life experience depends entirely on Gold. It's the difference between trusting his battling and tactical instincts to assertively order Gloom to take the hit in order to sleep-powder the incoming enemy, and between trusting his non-existent Togepi-raising instinct to do… something.

It feels like that first time Croconaw fainted in battle, his first wake-up call on the first day of their journey. But even that wasn't like _this_; he'd seen that kind of stuff on TV all the time, Croconaw was never in any real danger.

Gold's never had anyone depend on him, not really. He doesn't think he's ready for this. That's a hundred times scarier than a newly-hatched Togepi, because as far as he can remember, Gold's been ready for everything and then some.

"Yeah?"

"I'll call you back," says Gold, because he's just noticed Gloom sidling out of the Pokemon centre leading a bouncing Togepi. He waves his Pokemon over.

"Okay, bye." The Pokegear beeps; the videocall is cut off.

ooo

Togepi holds out his arms and sends a perfectly timed extrasensory pulse at the Golbat. A mess of wings and high-pitched shrieks, and then Silver is scowling at his fallen Pokemon across the cave floor.

"Return, Golbat," he says coldly.

"Good one," says Gold. He grins broadly at Togepi, who bounces happily. "Aw, Silver, upset that my baby's kicking your ass?"

Silver gives him a look that says, _The only reason I'm not throwing you into a wall is because you're only slightly too far away_, but otherwise gives no response.

"C'mon, get back here, big guy," Gold says. Togepi flashes back into his Pokeball, and Gold gets Croconaw's ball ready for the next round. "… see, I was gonna make a joke about me actually directing that at you. But I won't. Because you're kind of being a complete asshole to battle against."

"How terrible for you," sneers Silver. "Go, Bayleef!"

ooo

"Nice Magnemite, by the way," says Gold after the battle - and after Silver's done with his usual rant about Team Rocket and weaker trainers.

Silver looks even more sour than usual; Gold guesses that he _probably_ doesn't like losing. "Thanks," he says curtly. "… your Togepi's not as weak as it looks."

"Yeah!" says Gold, cuddling Togepi in his arms. "He only hatched a couple of weeks ago, but he's already ready to battle. You know, I was kinda scared about looking after him, but he's been so great with me-"

"I really don't care," says Silver. "Stop wasting my time, understand? I'm done playing around with you and your weaklings."

"C'mon, I wanna talk to you more! This is like, the third time that I've bumped into you, so it must be fate." He wiggles his fingers convincingly. "Anyway, I was saying that it was kinda really scary looking after him at first, and… I guess… well, it's really cool that you think I'm doing a good job."

Silver gapes a little. "I- what? I didn't say anything like that, you loser!"

"I mean, I've been trying to think about the whole thing a bit more, you know, trying to do a good job on his training and what I should feed him and who he should play with and stuff, and which TMs I should get for him, rather than just going by instinct and letting him do what he wants, so… yeah, do you think that's working?" He looks at Silver expectantly.

"… oh, that's good," says Silver, who looks like he's desperately wishing for a handy teleport right about now. (He should probably get an Abra one of these days.)

"Good?"

"… you're a weak trainer," Silver says, scowling. "So it's good that you're thinking about your training, even for a pathetic baby like that, because someone like you can't survive on blind instinct."

"Yeah!" says Gold, high-fiving Togepi. "And you're not a pathetic baby, you're a cute wonderful strong-"

"I'm going," says Silver. "Get out of my way." He shoves Gold – but a little lighter than last time, and maybe it's just because Gold's holding a baby, but Gold likes to think perhaps he's starting to break through Silver's defensive shell – and storms past.

"See ya!" calls Gold.

"Stay out of my way, asshole," mutters Silver in reply, a little too far away for Gold to hear him.

**ooo**

_To me, Lyra and Kris are different people SO YEAH. Also it is a lot harder writing about Gold than about Silver, because self-inserts = bad fic. (My Gold is basically me, just with Friendliness turned up to 100 and Caution turned down to -100.)_

_My Togekiss is called Zoli._


	3. Ampharos

**Ampharos**

**ooo**

Gold didn't need a lot of convincing to go to Cianwood. Indeed, his mind had been made up to help the absentee Gym Leader and her sick Pokemon almost as soon as Silver had mentioned it, but he would probably have gone even without that push.

"Flaaa…" says Flaaffy, hopping along beside him on the way back to the hostel. _So pretty…_

Gold pats him on the head absent-mindedly. "You'll be an Ampharos soon, I know it."

"Flaaffy flaaff! Flaaffy!" squeaks Flaaffy. _No, I mean she is pretty! That one Ampharos!_

"Aw," says Gold, grinning. "You _like_ her! You like Amphy!"

"Flaaffy…" _Well, duh…_

"We'll go out to Cianwood first thing tomorrow morning, I promise," says Gold. "Don't wanna risk going out on the sea at night. She'll be fine, alright?"

It wasn't _just_ because of Silver that Gold was determined to reach Cianwood Pharmacy, his mind argues. After all, Gold generally helped out people and Pokemon wherever and whenever he could, so it was pretty much a given that he'd trek through two towns and an entire sea just to get medicine for one sick Ampharos. So really… Silver's silly speech about worthless ill Pokemon had just been the icing on the cake.

And besides, there was no way that he'd be obsessing over shit that a dick like Silver said.

Seriously, now.

"Flaaffy affy flaff, flaffy…?" says Flaaffy, flattening his ears and looking sideways at him. _I bet you're still thinking about that guy, aren't you?_

"Yeah, and what a massive dick he is," says Gold. "And a complete moron too! Like, does he not know what lighthouses are for? There's a reason Amphy's up there, you can't just tell Jasmine to, quote, 'let her go', just 'cos she's not for battling! Besides, I don't think Jasmine even owns the lighthouse… seriously, what a moron. And a dick. A moron dick. Sheesh, and I thought we were kinda getting along the last few times at the Pokemon centre."

"Flaaffyyy," says Flaaffy.

"I'm not a moron, shut up!"

Gold is pretty sure that his Pokemon team respected him. _Pretty _sure_._

Well, Flaaffy is at least easier to coach than Vulpix. What a bitch.

Flaaffy sniggers. _But then you went off to train us at the lighthouse, just like he said you should._

"Yeah, 'cos of Amphy," says Gold, frowning. (Gold's frowns are rare and therefore, somewhat frightening.) "That guy is an asshole! C'mon, you don't think much of me if you think I'm into that. I'm way too cool! But maybe if he lightened up a bit…"

It isn't too bad – though it _is_ slightly exasperating sometimes, such as this time right now – that Flaaffy and Gloom think he is madly in love with Silver or something, but Gold doesn't really see why they keep making so much fuss. The guy is too much of an asshole – no matter how cheerful and friendly Gold is in their encounters (which is a hell of a lot) – and that should be about the end of it, even if Gold is still determined to show Croconaw that an asshole is not _all_ that guy is.

Sure, he'd said a couple of times to them that Silver was supermodel-type attractive and his voice was kind of nice to listen to after the initial "Team Rocket and weak Pokemon are weak loser weaklings" tirade, but really, he'd only met the guy a handful of times and said, what, maybe five sentences each time? And he doesn't see what there was to get excited about when there is clearly no actual awesome action going on, or even any vague lines that could be misconstrued as maybe possibly flirty. And anyway, chances are that Silver isn't gay, so… this is really just pointless speculation.

Presumably his Pokemon need _something_ to gossip about in their spare time.

(Gold makes a mental note to engage in awesome vague flirting action next time he sees Silver.)

ooo

They reach Cianwood around noon the next day, Gold both feeling exhilarated about _fuck yeah I'm surfing on the back of a Pokemon_ and… wet. Just, wet.

"Maybe I should have changed into my swimming trunks for that," he says to Croconaw, squeezing water out of his socks.

Croconaw grins and shrugs. He scampers up the beach and into the town proper, impatiently looking back at Gold once he reaches the Pokemon centre.

"Now my feet are sandy," moans Gold, catching up with Croconaw. "I don't like my feet being sandy. This sucks."

Croconaw bites him. (Lightly.) Then he belches about a litre of water onto Gold's sandy feet.

"Now my feet are wet," Gold moans even more pitifully. "The whole point of taking off my socks was so my feet would dry out!"

Croconaw gives him another toothy grin and a shrug. He hops off and bangs on the nearest house's front door with a scaled fist. (Gold has a habit of barging into every house he sees whenever he gets to a village or town, and the free tea and biscuits he gets from this usually make up for the rather scared inhabitant's forced, stilted conversation and, more than once, police call and arrest. He feels a surge of fatherly pride that Croconaw has picked this up from him, although unlike Gold, at least Croconaw knocks before he enters.)

"_Hey_," says Golds dramatically to the person who opens the door. "_Please dry my feet._"

"Eep!" says the person, who is a scared-looking teenage boy. "Please don't hurt me!"

"Croconaw, stop it," says Gold. Croconaw rolls his eyes, but obediently stops roaring at the poor boy and closes his mouth. "I mean, yeah, man my feet are soaking, do you have a towel?"

"Erk!"

"Eh?"

"I'm in shock!" says the boy, frantically grabbing his arm. "My Pokemon! Someone kidnapped him!"

"What?" says Gold, grabbing Croconaw.

"This guy stole him! He… he was about your age, and had long red hair and… his eyes were really scary…"

"Wait, so what happened?" says Gold slowly. He only knows one guy his age with long red hair and piercing eyes, and- his thoughts are interrupted by Croconaw growling loudly and pointedly in his direction. _I told you, that guy's not worth it._

"He scared me into giving my Pokemon to him! He said… he said he'd properly beat me up and put me in hospital if I didn't… oh no, what if he comes back? He hit me in the face!"

"Is he still hanging around this island? Where is he?"

"I don't know… you have to take my other Pokemon and make sure he's safe! You can protect him, can't you?"

"Uh," says Gold, looking between him, the Pokeball and Croconaw. "Maybe… not? I mean, it's awesome that you want me to take care of him but I, uh, no?"

"Croconaw!" shouts Croconaw angrily. "Croco croco croco!"

"Do you, er, know who it was?" says the boy, nervously clutching his Pokeball and backing away from Croconaw.

"CrocoNAW crrrr!"

"He stole a Chikorita a while ago," explains Gold. "But I thought he was just desperate! I didn't think he would do it again, I thought he was just acting all gangster and hard because he-"

Croconaw growls loudly and marches out of the door, clearly intent on hunting the thief down.

"- oh shit, Croconaw – yeah, well, I'm gonna see what I can do. That asshole isn't gonna get away with it this time."

He turns away and runs out after Croconaw, feeling like a lead weight had settled in his intestines. He'd thought… well, it doesn't matter what he'd thought. Maybe that was really all there was to Silver. Why should he, Gold, bother trying to look for more?

But first things first. There's no time to let the lead weight settle; he needs to get back to the lighthouse at Olivine.

**ooo**

_a/n: well I'm not amazingly happy with this section since there is no Silver, :'(, and Gold's personality is kinda all over the place. BUT NOW this ties in with the rest of my Gold/Silver timeline, as seen in _Finding the Path_. Wooooo~  
_

_my Ampharos is called Photic._


	4. Dragonite

_massive time-skip ahoy!_

**Dragonite**

**ooo**

It's familiar ground.

Quite literally, in fact – Gold remembers stepping out onto this same battle hall, and he remembers that medical treatment counter over on that side, and that last-minute supplies shop where he bought about two litres of quick-heal medicine, and he remembers the glare of the luminous purple floor and slippery feel of it under his running shoes. He remembers stepping out and waving to the crowd, just one more unknown challenger from an unknown town. One year of being Johto Champion, and everything's changed, himself and his friends and his red-haired mutual stalker – but nothing's changed here, not in the televised pan-national leagues. It's kind of nice. Gold thinks he probably prefers adventures and wandering into the great unknown, but he admits that it is kind of nice to see some familiarity now and again. It's nice to feel grounded – especially when the grounding element is the most important battling tournament of the year for not one, but two whole regions.

He remembers Silver in the tunnels of Victory Road. That was last year. (This year, it was Silver on the steps of the league building, a warm-up battle before the real games started.)

Figuratively, he's done it all before. Last year's Johto Champion. Still a teenager, and he's Made It. There are some moments – this one right now, for instance – where Gold feels unbearably _old_, as if his successes and memories have jaded him unnaturally, where the flashes of photographers and screams of fans and journalists have gone from new to interesting to old and finally to… nothing.

But those moments pass quickly. It's the joy of battling that Gold's here for, and the exhilaration of winning (and losing). Sometimes all that is easier to find without a crowd watching you – when it's only Silver watching you – but Gold thinks, he was born to be the centre of attention. What other destiny could he have, if not to be the Best? How else could he possibly have played the game?

He shakes his head and grins at Dragonite.

"Ready?" he says to her.

She nods, stamping the ground impatiently. (She's still not quite used to having arms and legs and wings.)

ooo

Gold is pretty much incapable of multitasking – he focuses on one thing, and one thing only. Dragonite likes that. But, she thinks with a touch of irritation, he needs to get the fuck over whatever's distracting him and concentrate, just this once. Too much hesitation, too much uncertainty; she should have taken Will's Bronzong down five minutes ago.

Finally, she sets off an earthquake, placing the fault line perfectly (the crowd goes wild) and the Bronzong collapses. She stumbles over to Gold – god, she's heard that gravity intensification was horrible for flyers, but it's the first and hopefully only time she's experienced it for herself – and shoves his shoulder angrily.

_You're not even thinking about the battle! _she growls. _What the fuck are you thinking about instead, huh?_

"Yeah, how am I meant to meet up with that guy again if I haven't even got his pokegear number?" says Gold, ignoring Dragonite's look of glowering rage.

She shoves him again.

"Maybe I should have said Thursday was a good day 'cos I can just visit mum on a different day, maybe he's only free on Thursdays…?"

There are some times when Dragonite decides that no, actually she really does not like Gold at all. (But only some times.)

ooo

Dragonite looks at Lance. Then she looks back to the other Dragonite.

"Dragonites are awesome!" says Gold.

The terrible thing was that there was not a trace of sarcasm in that sentence.

_Heyyy, _says Lance's Dragonite, winking at her. (Dragonite gives him a look of disgust. Gold winks back at Lance's Dragonite. Both of them pretend not to notice the other.)

_You'd better be concentrating this time, _she says to Gold. She wonders if the other Dragonite grew up as a prize in a travelling gambling tent with next to no hope of a future or a trainer - or a life. She hasn't met many other Pokemon of her own species, only Lance's trio, and she's not too impressed with those ones. _I want to punch this other Dragonite properly. And then have a nap._

"Huh?" says Gold, who is looking at the audience. He thought he saw-

_I hate you,_ Dragonite says. She knows Gold will know she doesn't mean it, because – well, what are friends for? She's got to let out all those insults and angry rages at someone, and apparently it's rude to do that to strangers. Or other overly cheerful and friendly Dragonites. Or Lance.

Anyone who owns more than one overly cheerful and friendly Dragonite has a serious problem, she thinks. (Three happy friendly Dragonites in a row attempting to battle-flirt with her this time last year had been one of the more scarring episodes in her life.)

Having just one Gold was more than enough.

ooo

"-it was great! Yeah, more battles with anyone would be awesome, going to Hoenn definitely sounds great. Yeah, I'll think about it. Nah, no trades, I only have these guys. Um… yeah? I'm gonna- oof!" Gold stumbles sideways as something hard slams into his side. He looks up and sees Dragonite rolling her eyes at him, giving off an air of general rage.

The reporter looks up as well. Dragonite glares at her, and stomps off.

"Uh… gotta go! It's so great talking to you guys, so yeah, if you wanna interview me properly just call me and we sort something out, okay?" He runs after Dragonite, who is now grunting at a Sneasel. "What's up?"

"Snea!" squeaks the Sneasel, jumping onto his trainer's lap and clawing his way up his jacket.

"It's you!" says Gold happily, and enthusiastically.

Silver does not seem to share his enthusiasm, but Gold has never been deterred by that. He 'humph's grumpily at Gold in reply, but Gold notices that he's still sitting up straighter, still awkwardly not quite meeting his eyes.

Gold notices a lot when he's focusing.

"It's you!" says Gold again, just in case Silver wanted a second chance to say something stunning and witty and sexy.

"Congratulations," mutters Silver. "I should've guessed you'd win, shouldn't I?"

"Thanks dude," says Gold (it's somewhat stunningly wittily sexy, he guesses?). "I didn't realise you'd stuck around! You left way too quickly when we were talking before."

"I'm about to leave," says Silver, and so Gold sits down next to him. Naturally.

"Again? C'mon, we're friends, we should talk more!"

Silver shifts uncomfortably. Sneasel jumps down and races off to chatter in Dragonite's face, leaving the two of them alone – or as alone as is possible with a camera flashing directly in their faces every five seconds. "Well, I'm not very good at being friends, if that's what you think."

"I don't care," says Gold. "And you're too hard on yourself. I just told you that Crobats evolve out of love, didn't I?"

"Hmm."

"You should stop beating yourself up all the time," says Gold when Silver still makes no reply. "I don't think you're as big a dick as you think you are. Or as big as you act like. Or as big as you probably ha-"

"What?!"

"-vveuhhh no, what?" says Gold. He debates between putting on his innocent 'oh it couldn't have been Gold who smashed those TVs and puked on the Marrill, look how harmless he looks!' expression or doing his patented suggestive eyebrow wiggle, and decides to go for the innocent look. Getting an indignant rise out of Silver was one of Gold's favourite pastimes. It was a pity that he hardly ever saw the guy.

"What did you say?" demands Silver, somehow managing to scowl and look adorably flustered at the same time.

"I said you're not a complete dickhead so shut up and be my friend!"

Silver glares at him. "You're a complete moron, though."

"That's what all my friends say," says Gold cheerfully and truthfully. He leans back against the bench back and watches Sneasel clambering up Dragonite's back. It's quite hard. There is a barricade of journalists and photographers in between. "Your Sneasel's cute."

(He resists the urge to add, "LIKE YOUR FACE," but only because two indignant Silver-reactions in two minutes might dilute the impact.)

"I went back to Cianwood," says Silver after a pause. "But he said… he said I could keep him. He said I _should_ keep him, because Sneasel looked so happy."

"That's great!" Gold says, grinning. "See, that's what I'm talking about!"

"I see." Silver looks away from Gold and at the pair of Pokemon. "So… I haven't seen your Dragonite since she evolved."

"Yeah, she's awesome! But she really seems to hate Lance for some reason…"

Silver snorts. "I thought Lance was the king of Dragonites, or something like that. He has enough of them."

ooo

"Sooo…. what's your number?" says Gold, once it's apparent that Silver is being irreversibly pushed out of Gold's personal space by the sheer number of impatient staring reporters jostling to get closer to Gold.

Silver grumbles under his breath and shifts even further out of the view of the cameras. Even so, he still looks quite… happy? Pleased that Gold asked? Gold finds this encouraging.

"Hey, give me your Pokegear then." He stabs in a few digits and throws it back at Gold. He mutters a quick "bye," and stalks out of the Pokemon League, Sneasel darting past Gold's feet to join him.

"Awesome!" says Gold excitedly to no-one in particular, because this is undeniably _pretty awesome_ and ooh, he should give Silver a stunning and witty and sexy nickname in his Pokegear phonebook.

He carefully types in 'BIGDICK' because… it's true, Silver is kind of just a massive dick but right now Gold's finding it strangely endearing. He likes seeing Silver, he likes Silver being an asshole who's not really an asshole in his actions because he's stopped pretending so hard and overcompensating, and also Gold hasn't worked out how to type spaces and lower-case letters on his Pokegear.

Dragonite leans over and smacks him on the head. _Oh my god, I hate you, you are an idiot._

"I know," says Gold, giving her a quick hug. "Sometimes I amaze myself with my awesomeness too."

**ooo**

_a/n: My Gold got a Dratini in the Voltorb Flip tent, which seems a really shady way to get a Pokemon... seriously, gambling? With the prize being a living sentient intelligent being? I think that's kinda fucked up...? but then again this is Pokemonland where kids order their living sentient intelligent 'pets' to maul each other for money, so... yeah. Not going to try and make sense of Pokemonland.  
_

_Anyway, I'm trying to set all my Gold/Silver fics in the same continuity! It's... quite confusing since I obviously haven't written them in chronological order, haha. Uhhh I'll get round to writing more of _Recursion,_ uh, sometime. Maybe. Possibly._

_My Dragonite is called Luina._


	5. Ninetales

**Ninetales**

**ooo**

It is cold. It is also windy, which makes the chill even more apparent, and it is also _wet_ because the air is filled with seaspray and a light drizzle of rain.

Gold doesn't really care about that right now. It is mostly because he has had too much beer; everything looks the same amount of wonderful and beautiful and exciting, even the grey sky and the grey sea. But it is also because there is Silver and there is Silver holding his hand (well – alright, it is more Gold holding Silver's hand and refusing to let go, but the general concept is the same).

"I am so not drunk, look at me," says Gold. "Look at this perfect straight line I'm walking, oh yeaahh."

Silver snorts and pulls him up when he stumbles. "You only had three beers, are you that much of a lightweight?"

"No," says Gold firmly. He sits down on the beachfront, towing Silver along with him. "I am so not drunk. Wait, um, I already said that."

"You're an idiot," Silver says, but he sits down anyway.

Gold grins. "Yeah, well, at least I didn't spill anything down a waitress's chest… or on Meganium… so what about you?"

Silver scowls, even though it is a bit too dark for Gold to see. The message gets through anyway. "That idiot waitress got in my way! And Meganium spilt that curry on herself, so it had nothing to do with me."

"Like your face!" Gold says triumphantly.

"That… didn't even make sense…"

Gold counts that as a win, because it meant Silver actually tried to decipher his pick-up lines – always an encouraging thought. "It did too," he argues. "Your face is so attractive that I wanna spill everything on it."

Silver closes his eyes, presumably in prayer for the gods to release him from this insanity. Gold turns to look at him, and wonders how far he can push this. It is nice, being a little tipsy – at least it does not feel so cold out here as it did earlier, for one thing.

"That's… awful. That wasn't even funny."

"Like your mum."

"I have no idea if she was," Silver says shortly. "If this wasn't a date I would punch you."

"Nah, it wouldn't work. I've built up too much resistance, it's happened too many times." Somewhere in the back of Gold's mind, the thought occurs that if he continues being an idiot then Silver will probably renege on the whole 'being a date' thing, and then he will have no excuse not to punch him, and that would be bad. Being punched is bad.

He decides to do something nice and not completely mortifying. (It is probably best, he thinks, to save his best sexy awesome flirting lines for later.)

"Are you cold?"

"I'm fucking freezing," says Silver, but doesn't move.

Gold fumbles around in his backpack and pulls out Ninetales's Pokeball. A flash of light later, and the Pokemon is staring at him haughtily.

"Some heating, please?" says Gold to her. She grumbles a bit, because she does not like the sea or the rain or the cold one bit either.

"What's she going to do, flamethrower us better?" mutters Silver.

Ninetales can resist a command but she can't resist a challenge. A moment later, and they have their own private column of hot dry air.

"You can go back if you want," says Gold to Ninetales, but she harumphs and sits down instead. Her warm glow is comforting.

"Thanks," says Silver grudgingly, as if his mouth is not used to saying that word. It probably isn't. "This… is much better."

"Like your face?" says Gold, who can't remember whether he was meant to save his best sexy awesome flirting lines for later or not.

Silver makes a vaguely angry noise. Unfortunately for him, Gold quite likes that noise.

"Definitely like your face," Gold continues. "Because it's so hot. And dry, and totally not wet or windy at all. No, wait, not dry, because dry skin kinda sucks. Like-"

For a moment Gold thinks, _oh fuck me I _knew_ this would happen because I literally thought this so why did I continue being an idiot because now I'm going to get punched again,_ and then he thinks (and says), "Ninetales save-". But he cannot finish that thought, because actually Silver is not punching him, he is kissing him.

It is quite nice. But kissing Silver is quite a bit more… angry… that Gold is used to. And quite a bit more… stupefying, because Gold's brain is feeling sluggish right now and can't quite process what just happened. What just happened?

"Man," he says, still very close to Silver's face. "I totally have the best sexy awesome pick-up lines."

Silver looks like he regrets not punching him.

(Ninetales is not impressed. Not even a little bit.)

ooo

Silver excuses himself and Ninetales stalks up to sit next to Gold.

"Why doesn't he just piss on a tree like normal people do?" says Gold, who really wants to get back to making out with Silver because that is a lot more fun than watching Silver walk (very slowly) off to the restaurant to use their high-tech indoor non-tree toilet.

Ninetales shrugs. She shifts a little closer to Gold; when he looks down and ruffles her mane, she growls and attempts to look inconspicuous.

Gold lets her. "C'mon, the sea's not that scary."

She growls louder and shakes her head proudly. "Trrrr."

Well, there is no need to make her admit it. Gold is content to let her stay there - it is clear he knows she is scared, and that she knows that he knows, and he supposes that that means that he knows that she knows that… okay, this was getting stupid. That fact is - it is a mutual secret that Gold is content with keeping.

"Nine…?" she says, watching his face carefully.

"He's really hot," says Gold, grinning.

She gives him the fox-equivalent of an annoyed elbow to the gut; a rather forceful shove. "Nrrine…?"

"I think he's a good guy," says Gold more honestly. "But I guess he doesn't really let anyone get close, so I dunno. What do you think?"

She shrugs dispassionately.

"Yeah!" says Gold, because Ninetales only pretends not to care about something when she is happy with that something. Unless it is something horrible and scary like _endless acres of cold water_, in which case she pretends not to care because, well, she would look like a fool if she made a fuss about fear. But Gold is pretty sure that she is not scared of Silver.

ooo

"I don't know how you do it," grumbles Silver as they walk through Cherrygrove, en route to New Bark.

"Do what?" says Gold, putting Ninetales back into his bag.

"How you… how you treat your Pokemon like that."

"Like what?"

"You know," says Silver, a bit annoyed. "Like you understand them, properly. It's… whenever you talk to Ninetales, you get her to do whatever you want - even though she's such a bitch whenever she says anything to me. How did you learn how to be so good with Pokemon?"

"That's just rude," says Gold, poking him. Silver slaps his hand away. "She's not a bitch! Although… she can be kinda annoying to train… what can I say? I'm just amazing like that."

"Humph," says Silver. "You…"

"I think," says Gold loudly, "that you know how to do it too, because you _are_. Dude, you have an _Alakazam_, so don't say you can't deal with difficult Pokemon. And a Gengar."

Silver pauses. Gold tugs his hand impatiently because he really wants to get to his mum's house before midnight.

"Hmph – so I suppose you know exactly how to get me to do what you want, too," says Silver, and Gold finds it hard to tell what his tone is.

"Well, what I really want you to do is _me_, but-"

"I didn't mean that in a nasty way," clarifies Silver. "I was just thinking out loud. Also, shut up."

"No," says Gold cheerfully, hoping that Silver is blushing in that adorable way that he does. It is a shame that it is too dark to check. "I won't. I will never shut up. You can't stop me, 'cos I'm just that good."

When Silver kisses him, Gold thinks that _yes, maybe I do know exactly how to get him to do whatever I want_. But then he thinks, _actually maybe I kinda wanted a less angry and I-want-to-hit-you kiss because this is kinda painful…?_ Or maybe this is just a Silver-thing; being kind of pissed off all the time is basically Silver's default mode. Well, there's always room for improvement. He should probably hone those Silver-training skills.

But he is pretty sure that this is a good start.

**ooo**

_My Ninetales is called Marasan. I... actually can't remember why._

_clarification: this is set post-first-date (where _Turning Points_ starts at), and Gold's pick-up lines are not awful because he has had more than one unit of alcohol. They are awful because they are always awful._


End file.
